Susan Campbell asks: How is a drone any different than a news helicopter?

The weird thing is, Pedro Rivera thought he was doing the right thing. He's a journalist. A journalist goes in for the story.

But on Feb. 1, 2014, Rivera found himself in a tense conversation with Hartford police over his use of a drone to take video after a fatal car accident.

That day — his day off — Rivera had heard on the scanner about the accident, and he loaded up his equipment and took off.

He'd purchased a DJI drone for $1,200, from Amazon to give him a perspective no one else had — unless they hired a helicopter or plane, and who has the money for that these days?

At the time, Rivera was working as a temporary employee for WFSB, but he was at the accident on his own. Flying his drone 150 feet above the scene, standing on public land, that was just Rivera following his passion. But he said police officers came over, ringed him, asked him what he was doing, told him to stop using the drone and to leave the scene. Rivera did so. Later, he said a police officer called WFSB to suggest he be disciplined. Rivera was suspended without pay for a week but he hasn't worked for them since. This after Rivera told police he was not acting as an employee for the station.

Rivera held off telling his father, a longtime police officer in East Hartford, but when Rivera's father saw his son on the news, he called him up and let him have it. He's since softened. How is a drone any different from a telephoto lens?

Rivera grew up with a camera in his pocket, and going into journalism made sense. His family was proud of him. It stung to lose that job, but the support letters have been rolling in. A Canadian journalist sent money. The Professional Society of Drone Journalists — yes, there is such a thing — issued a statement in support of Rivera that said, in part, that the "actions of the Hartford police in this incident were uncalled for, and are an affront to press freedom." The statement quoted two court cases, including Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, a Supreme Court case that protects the rights of journalists to attend and report public events. On its website, the society includes a code of ethics that goes beyond traditional journalism ethics to include rules about safety and privacy.

Rivera has had a couple of journalism job interviews since, but the conversations mostly revolve around a lawsuit he filed in federal court against the Hartford police department's violation of his First Amendment rights, and for their causing him trouble at work. The court's decision in March left a lot to be desired as far as First Amendment rights, as the judge ruled Rivera had no right to video-record the accident, and that doing so with his drone meant he was "effectively trespassing onto an active crime scene."

This is not the last word on this, and after that decision, Eugene Volokh of The Washington Post wrote in support of Rivera, and said "it's not clear to me why video recording a scene from 150 feet above is any more of an intrusion into a police investigation than video recording it from 150 feet away horizontally or diagonally." The FAA investigated, and said since there was "no evidence that a careless or reckless operation or commercial operation were conducted this matter is considered closed."

If there's a silver lining, it's that Rivera's action sparked a much-needed conversation. Technology marches on, sometimes faster than we make rules for its use. Connecticut legislators talked about drones last session, and they've promised to do so again, though most of the conversation centers on state's use of drones for things like police surveillance. That's an important conversation, but what about personal drones, which hit record sales this past Christmas?

All that aside, with any luck, Rivera will gain entree back into the world he loves so much. Who wouldn't want to hire a go-getter like him?